MacD on Music: The perfect song for your breakup playlist

Over a year ago, when this fine column first graced the pages of the Derry News, I wrote about one of the city’s finest young talents, fourteen year old Cora Harkin (column #3, December 13th 2021).

At the time, Cora had just won the Forrestside Roots Young Singer Songwriter Under 17s contest, and as a result, got the opportunity to have her single recorded and produced.

This weekend, that single, ‘Glad I Got Away’, is being launched at the Nerve Centre. This Saturday (18th March), Cora will be headlining a gig that also features music from the brilliant Boy M5. I spoke to Cora last week about the song, the writing and production of it and what she’s been up to since our last interview.

Talking about the song, Cora tells me “I wrote it about a year ago...it’s quite an upbeat song. It’s looking more at the positive side of getting away from something that wasn’t healthy, as opposed to looking at the negative of it, so it’s just kind of, ‘phew, got away, life’s great again’.

"Anybody could really interpret it their own way, so people could interpret it as getting out of a bad job, getting out of school, getting out of friendships, that’s the way I kind of see it.”

Moving on to the recording process, Cora tells me “The song was recorded by Kyle O’Neill and Paul Mooney. The musicians who recorded the track of it were Kyle O’Neill, Paul Mooney and Aaron McCallion, otherwise known as Boy M5. They recorded it and we went to Kyle’s studio called Egg House Studios.

"We arrived at nine o’clock in the morning, and we did the drums first, then the bass, then the rhythm guitar, then the lead guitar, then finally we slapped on some vocals, so class day! Also went to Claudy Deli for the first time and got supplies.”

The release was funded by the Forrestside Roots Young Singer Songwriter, who are also funding the launch night.

They also funded the artwork (by Jim Heal) and initial recording but Cora decided to go with a different song to the one that she’d won the contest with (‘Busking In The Mirror’) because “we didn’t know where we wanted to go with it, so I’m holding on to it until I figure myself what sound I want. I was quite confused whether I wanted a rock and roll type song, or did I want an Elton John type sound for it. It’s a work in progress.”

After that, we spoke about what she’s been up to in the year and a bit since our last interview. Cora tells me “2022 was very busy. I wrote a lot more songs, I played at Dalfest last year, the Gasyard Féile, alongside Cherym, Bronagh Gallagher and Touts.”

Also, in January this year, Cora played the Oh Yeah Centre’s Volume Control: Clash of the New Breeds, where she came second, and was the highest ranking solo act. Through this, Cora has won even more studio time, “so there could be another song coming up very soon.”

She also “supported Virgins, alongside TRAMP and the Anomalys, supported Hard to Explain,” and was on the Vinnie Hurrell Show in Portstewart. Cora also played at the Red Sails at Lenafest “where I got all my cool photos, and I played that with Boy M5, and can’t forget about the Clipper Fest. I also played at the Garageland.”

For those looking here more from Cora, she is extremely active on TikTok, and is currently trying to break ten thousand followers. She tells me “I love TikTok, and that’s where most of the ‘Glad I Got Away’ promo content will be posted, and my TikTok is also really funny, so go follow it.”

Talking about what she’s got coming up, Cora tells me she’s supporting Virgins and Susie Blue in May in the Oh Yeah Centre, and is also working on a new song, which, she hopes, will be released soon. As of this writing, it doesn’t have a name, but “personally, I think it’s pretty cool.”

During the course of our interview, Cora asked me to give special thanks to a number of people: Forrestside’s Roots’ Emma Bell and Lee Cutler, “who’ve always looked out” for her.

They run the programme, and Cora says “none of this would’ve been possible” without them. She also wants to thank Martin McGill in the Nerve Centre for giving them the venue and advertising the gig and the tickets. Finally, she wanted to thank Boy M5 for producing the single.

‘Glad I Got Away’ will be released on the 24th March on all streaming platforms. It’s being launched this Saturday (the 18th) in the Nerve Centre, and anyone who attends will have the chance to get a CD of the song a week early. Tickets are available on the Nerve Centre website nervecentre.org.

Cora can be found on Instagram and TikTok @coraharkinmusic (for both).